You Are Here: Beauty Ledge & Piper Mountain - Moose Mountains Reservation

Many people ask me what "redlining" is. In terms of New Hampshire hiking, it involves hiking every trail in the AMC Guide Books. I'm working on the AMC South Guide Book. The book is broken into sections (regions) and today I reached 100% on the Lakes Region tab (or at least my version of it for the 5th Edition). I'm a little disappointed in myself that I saved this hike for last, as it wasn't my favourite, but that's OK. Looking back, it wasn't as bad as I felt actually in the moment. I headed back to the Moose Mountains Reservation in Middleton for the final 4 trails I needed on the Lakes Region tab. They are definitely far less traveled than many trails in the area, but all were easy enough to navigate, even if a little messy in places. I started on Burrows Farm Trail, which I've done before. Today the deer flies and bugs were pretty bad. I ended up wearing a bug net as I couldn't stand them flying around my face. Today I took the right hand turn onto North Trail, which is an old logging road. I continued up to Beauty Ledge Trail, which is marked with a sign. Beauty Ledge Trail is a short steep climb up to some ledges looking over Strafford County and into southern Maine. I continued onto Beauty Knob Trail which was a short, steep descent to meet up with the top end of North Trail. According to maps, North Trail continues and another trail sometimes called Mountain View Trail also departs from this area, but I'd say they are very scarcely traveled and although I did see some flagging tape on what appeared to be Mountain View Trail, these appear to be no longer maintained. Even where Beauty Knob Trail emerged onto North Trail, had I been coming from the opposite direction, I'm not sure I would have found it. There is a very old faded blue blaze on the tree, but that's pretty much it for any indication there is a trail there. The trail itself is well marked, it would just be locating the start from North Trail that could be tricky. North Trail is pretty messy. Being an old logging road, it was grassy in some areas, rocky in others and several small blowdowns all over the place. Back down near the bottom is a large cleared area with an intersection for Piper Mountain Trail. This was my last trail for the Lakes Region tab. Another old logging road, it descends moderately and is much like North Trail. Grassy, rocky and rather messy. With all the bugs out today, it really wasn't my cup of tea, but I persisted not wanting to have to come back another day to finish. The trail reaches Bowser Pond and takes a sharp left, following the perimeter of the pond for a ways before heading up towards Piper Mountain. You're basically on old logging road/snowmobile corridor for the remainder of this hike. So not really maintained for Summer hiking, though still passable. The trail climbs until it meets with Piper Mountain Road as marked on the map, which was a rough Class VI road, that really only dirt bikes or ATVs could pass on. I have read about some folks who have driven, but I'd say they came in from the opposite direction, as nearer the path to Piper Mountain summit, the road did widen and smooth some, but was still quite rough. I wouldn't recommend trying to drive unless you had an off road vehicle. There is no indication where the side path to the summit and view ledges are, but I was following an online tracker which led me in the right direction. If you were just doing it on paper, the trail is open and obvious, just not marked. If you were looking for it, you should be able to see it easily enough. This section was a little muddy and there was indication a dirt bike or something had been through here recently. The trail goes up and over the unmarked summit before descending to some ledges that overlook Bowser Pond and the surrounding area. There is an old firepit and there were several signs of social gatherings (ie beer cans left laying around). The view is pretty, but not really a hike I'd readily recommend to anyone unless redlining. I wasn't looking forward to the hike back and considered trying to navigate an older unmaintained trail, but decided against it. I actually made decent time back and it was then I realized the old logging roads weren't as bad as I felt on the way out. I'm glad I did the hike and I'm psyched to have reached 100% for the Lakes Region. Onto the remaining 7 sections!

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